Tereska
by RareCelebi
Summary: A new adventure awaits Evan DeLuca, as he starts his adventure in the Tereska region. But an evil foundation hides behind a facade, and threatens the whole region. As Evan is roughly thrown into the thick of things, gaining a lot more than he bargained for, he finds that things are worse than he could ever imagine. T for violence and blood.
1. An Encounter

**Evan DeLuca**

The train sped through the mountain, the methodical _chug-chug _putting me to sleep. My head drooped against the window, and my mouth hung half-open. I was heading to Tereska, a new region where only trainers who had defeated a total of eight gym leaders, four elite four members and one champion were allowed. Most people just beat a whole region, but you didn't have to. As long as you fulfilled the requirements, you could beat leaders from a variety of regions. I had gotten my acceptance through the Kanto region.

The train rounded the corner, and sped out of the mountains. My head jerked up as a view more stunning than I had ever seen came into view. The Tereska region lay in a valley, nestled between two looming mountains, Terra and Giga. The valley bordered the sea, and an inlet stretched in on the right side of the region, forming a long lake. Tereska wasn't a very large region, but it was big enough. Forests resided on the northern edge of the region, bordering the sea, and plains stretched down to the southwest, while crag and hills covered the southeast. Desert lay in the northwest part of the region, forming a small patch of sepia in the expanse of the valley. I couldn't wait to start my journey in this beautiful place. According to the brochure that I had received with my train ticket, there was one gym for every type here, and the leaders were the most renown masters of their type the world had ever seen.

The train chugged down the side of the mountain, and finally, we reached the station in Nontucnal City, the metropolis where the normal gym resided, and the most southern city in Tereska.

I got through the checkpoints as quickly as possible and when I finally burst through the doors of the station and stood, squinting in the bright sunlight, I was teeming with energy.

I decided to get lunch at a café in the city (that was what Nontucnal City was known for), so I stopped a passerby and asked them for directions to the nearest café.

"Just around the corner there. Turn left at the green sign, and it'll be the fourth building on the right," he said merrily. "Hi! I'm Azeriah. What's your name?"

I smiled and shook his outstretched hand. "I'm Evan. Nice to meet you."

"Mind if I join you for lunch? I was just heading to my hotel room, but it would be nicer to eat with a friend!" He looked at me kindly and expectantly.

I was a little taken back at how extroverted and kind this guy was to me, but I assumed it was the norm in Tereska. So I said yes.

"Sure!" I answered.

We started down the road toward the end of the block. Azeriah immediately started introducing himself to me.

"I beat Sinnoh three weeks ago! It was really cool. I got entered into the hall of fame there, and they even make me special 'Champion Batteries' for my Jolteon now. I have a unique jolteon," he explained at my curious look. "It likes to eat batteries, and when it does, it gets really hyper and powerful. It was like that even as an eevee. I got it from Bebe, the Pokémon Storage System creator in Sinnoh. I helped her fix a bug in the system, so she repaid me by giving me an eevee. Best trade ever!"

I stayed quiet through the walk, listening to Azeriah babble on. His talk was interesting, even if it was a little too energetic.

"I love technology. I registered as an Inventor with the Pokémon League because I love creating things! What are you?" he asked me, and, realizing that I had a moment to talk, I answered.

"Oh, I'm a Pokémon Breeder," I spoke into the momentary quiet. Well, quiet being a relative term.

"A Breeder?! Wow, my sister's a breeder!" he exclaimed, but was cut short by the fact that was had reached the restaurant.

A Cup of Cocoa

I glanced up at the sign that headed the café, and then opened the door and went inside, Azeriah following me.

"Hello! Welcome to A Cup of Cocoa! My name is Sherri, and I will be your server today. Two?" a blond woman in a waitress' outfit near the door asked.

I nodded, and followed her as she led us to a table. I ordered a Hot Chocolate, and Azeriah ordered a lemonade.

"So, where do you live?" he asked me.

"Sootopolis City, in Hoenn," I replied. "Where do you live?"

He smiled at me. "Eterna City, in Sinnoh. Sootopolis City! I've only read about it! I can't imagine what it would be live to live in a volcano!"

I smiled back at him. "Well, it's dormant, and one side is opened up to ferries, but yeah."

He shook his head. "Compared to _that, _Eterna sounds boring! But we have the old Galactic Warehouse, and the statue of Girantina. But it's not nearly as exciting as Sootopolis!"

I laughed.

We talked a little more, and I started to like Azeriah more and more. Then, our drinks arrived.

* * *

Hey everyone! Thanks for reading! This is my first stand-alone FanFiction; I've been co-writing another with Malon Garynite under the joint account RareGarynite, but this is my first one I've done on my own! I've decided to keep the chapters pretty short, because I know that you all don't have oodles of time, so I want to keep my story readable, especially when we all start school. Thanks for reading, and please, please, please review!

-RareFroslass


	2. A Solution

**Azeriah Camic**

As I sat drinking my lemonade and talking to Evan, I noticed some construction workers across the street putting up a new electric sign in front of the Poké-ID Lottery Center. I wasn't interested in the sign, rather, the logo etched on the metal beneath the screen.

**SOLUTIONS INDUSTRIES**

I turned on my COMPASS and pulled it up in front of me. COMPASS stood for Compass and Operational Mechanical Processing and Servicing System. It was worn on the wrist, and acted as a mini-supercomputer. You could do literally almost anything with it, and they were becoming extremely popular. Since the screen was rather small, there was an option of swiping the screen with three fingers and you could pull up a holographic screen and keyboard in front of you, and work with that instead of trying to maneuver with the 2" x 2" screen. That's what I was doing, and I wasn't paying attention to anything else at the moment.

"Umm, Azeriah? What's the matter?" Evan asked cautiously.

I held up a finger. "Just a minute," I muttered.

I had been doing research in Nontucnal City for a week, trying to figure out the mystery of Solutions Industries. I had first heard of them when I had purchased my COMPASS; they were the makers of the machine, and their logo was carved on the back of the screen. Since then, I had seen their logo and their name in various places around the city. But there was one problem: I couldn't find them on the internet _anywhere_. I had run searches upon searches and nothing turned up. I was at my wits end at trying to find out who they were, but this was something new.

"Those guys must work for Solutions Industries," I concluded under my breath. Swiping the holographic screen to push it back down onto my wrist, I stood up. "Sorry Evan, but I have to go talk to someone. I'll be back in a minute."

I ran out onto the street, and confronted one of the workers. "Excuse me," I said, tapping his shoulder.

He turned. "Hello! How can I help you?" he asked in a very friendly manner.

I smiled at him. "I was just wondering if you worked at Solutions Industries. I saw that the sign you were putting up was made by them, and I was just wondering who they were." I tapped my COMPASS to show where my interest of them had sprung.

He laughed. "I've gotten that question a lot lately. Yeah, I work at Solutions Industries, but we just started up. We're still building our website, and our facilities in Dendurno Village, and we've already had people who've approached us and asked for us to do jobs for them. How they found the number for our support hot-line, I don't know, but we just started up. I'm glad you like the COMPASS. But don't worry: we'll make sure everyone knows when we're officially opened up."

I nodded at him, and crossed back to the café. But my mind was still wandering. If Solutions Industries was still starting up, why had they released the COMPASS already? And why were they already doing jobs if they didn't even have a headquarters?

When I sat down at our table again, Evan gave me a strange look. "What were you doing?" he asked.

"I just had a question for that gentleman across the street there. So, where were we?" I changed the topic quickly to avoid any more questions.

After we had ordered out food, and eaten to our hearts content, Evan and I both decided to head to the train station and board a train to Celestia City. According to the brochure that we had both been given, we were supposed to go talk to Professor Sequoia, the leading researcher in the Tereska region. Apparently, her lab was located in Celestia City.

After purchasing our tickets, we boarded the train and found good seats at the back of the train, and next to the Battle Compartment, the area on the train where you could battle other trainers.

We sat and talked some more, learning more about each other each passing hour.

"Wanna try a battle?" Evan suggested.

I could tell he had been itching to ask me ever since we had gotten on the train. "Sure!" I replied.

We made our way back to the Compartment, and signed up for a one-on-one battle.

"This'll be interesting," I commented.

He nodded. Since we were both Champions, or at least, since we both had _been _Champions, we didn't know what to expect from each other. Not to mention the fact that we didn't know what pokémon the other person had.

When it was our turn, we stepped into the trainer's box and called out our pokémon.

"Rapidash, come on out!" I yelled, and threw a poké ball in the air.

"Ampharos, let's do this!" Evan called at the same time, and he too threw a poké ball in the air.

We stared at each other, waiting for the referee to signal the start of the match.

"Let the battle begin!"

* * *

Thanks for reading! I will be updating pretty frequently for about a week; then school starts, and I will not be updating as often, but I will try to update as much as possible. Please, please, please review, and hope you liked it!

-RareFroslass


	3. Thoughts and a Train Ride

**Evan DeLuca**

As soon as I heard the referee start the battle, I ordered Ampharos into battle. "Electro Ball, go!" I called out to my pokémon.

Ampharos swung it's red-tipped tail around, and a sphere of electricity flew out of the end and spun towards Azeriah's Rapidash.

Azeriah countered easily. "Rapidash, Flame Wheel!" he called out.

Rapidash jumped forward and rolled toward Ampharos, a vortex of flame spinning around it. Electricity and fire collided, sending orange tendrils of fire sparking around the compartment.

I grimaced. Azeriah was good...better than I had first anticipated. Sweeping my hair out of my eyes, I exhaled once and ordered Ampharos out again.

"Thunderbolt!" I called out. I was tempted to use Thunder, but since the accuracy of the move was so temperamental, I decided that I couldn't risk not landing the hit.

Ampharos scored a direct hit, but Rapidash quickly recovered.

"Flamethrower into Extremespeed!" Azeriah yelled.

"Counter with Discharge into Shock Wave!" I said.

Rapidash sent flames flying at Ampharos, who filled the compartment with electric pulses. Azeriah and I ducked as jolts of electricity flew over our heads.

Immediately, Rapidash disappeared, and I knew that in an instant, Ampharos would be hit with a direct Extremespeed.

Rapidash materialized in front of Ampharos, and Ampharos' tail swung from behind, cackling with electricity. As my pokémon was shoved backwards, Rapidash was hit with a Shock Wave.

Since both of our pokémon were so strong, both of them were knocked out with the impact.

I recalled my Ampharos, surprised at how quickly the battle had gone. Azeriah was powerful and a clever thinker. He knew how to analyze a situation and asses it's weaknesses. He would be a formidable opponent.

I shook his hand and we departed the Battle Compartment, finding our way back to our seats.

"So, what did you ask that guy back at the café?" I asked Azeriah, cracking my neck and sitting back in the plush seat.

Azeriah shook his head. "Oh, it was just a question I had about a device I recently bought."

I leaned forward quickly, curious. "Your COMPASS?"

He nodded sheepishly. "I just couldn't find a website for Solutions Industries anywhere! They had no documentation on the internet, and the worker told me that they were still starting up the business. But why release a product before you're fully started up?"

I nodded. "I've been thinking the same thing." I shook back the sleeve of my sweatshirt and revealed my COMPASS. "It just doesn't add up."

Azeriah sighed. "I'm not sure what to do about it though. I feel like there's something more to the story than that, but it doesn't look like it. It's just one of my gut feelings, you know? I get those a lot. Like one time, I was feeding a Hippopotas a sandwich, and I thought it was going to..."

I sighed and rolled my eyes, sitting back in my seat. Azeriah started ranting to me again, and I tuned him out, smiling and nodding like I was listening. But my thoughts drifted elsewhere.

Solutions Industries definitely had something going on. The COMPASS was exploding across the world, especially in Tereska. But why would the company release an item before it was fully functional?

I thought about Solutions Industries for the rest of the train ride. Finally we reached Celestia City. Looking out the window, I saw a purple-orange sky, streaked with clouds alight with the ethereal glow of the setting sun. Tall glass skyscrapers, mosaic cobblestone streets, and beautiful metal and stone fountains sped past the window. Small sidewalks bordered the large crisscrossing network of train tracks. I called Azeriah over to the window.

"Why are there so many train tracks?" I asked.

He, of course, had an answer to that. "The citizens of Celestia City use trains as their prime source of transportation, not cars."

I nodded. That made more sense.

We stopped at the station, and I gathered my things, still thinking about Solutions Industries. What were they up to?


	4. Hotel Vous Avez

**Azeriah Camic**

We stepped off of the train at the station in the heart of Celestia City. We had our Trainer Cards scanned at Baggage Claim, retrieved our luggage, and trudged through security checkpoints, lugging our bags behind us. Evan had reserved a hotel suite for us online during the train ride, and we boarded a TaxiTrain to take us there.

Since Celestia City ran on trains, not cars, all transportation was public. The train was about ten cars long, and a sleek black. As it pulled up in front of the station, we stepped onto the third car. Inside, people were sitting on couches and padded chairs. The interior of the train was polished steel, with clean glass windows. Modern electric lighting dotted the ceiling, while holographic TV screens on side tables next to the couches and chairs portrayed images from around Tereska, as well as news reports. The TaxiTrain was so smooth that the couches and chairs didn't slide around when the compartment braked suddenly, or rounded a sharp corner. Evan and I sat down on a faded brown couch.

I turned to Evan. "_Parlez-vous Français?_" I asked him, stowing my bag beneath the couch.

He smiled at me and leaned back in his seat. "_Oui. Et toi?_"

"_Oui._" I replied, pulling out the pamphlet that was given to me when I entered the Tereska region.

"_Chouette_," came Evan's reply, as he leaned over my shoulder. I had opened randomly to a page highlighting the key reasons why trainers should come to Tereska.

"Hmm. I didn't know that," I murmured.

"What?" Evan asked, sweeping his shaggy brown hair out of his eyes.

I pointed to a passage in the brochure.

_In this new region, it's not just Champions you'll find roaming the streets. Tereska is open to Top Coordinators, too. And if you aren't one for battles or contests, don't worry; there's a place for you, too! Commended Researchers, Scientists, and Breeders, as well as Award-Winning Collectors all reside in this region. They are all recognized by the leading Pokémon Professors in their home region for being outstanding in their line of work. So come on over to Tereska, and realize that your dreams are only a step away._

Evan nodded. "That's cool. I thought it was only for Champions. I guess not."

I turned the page, and read a little bit more.

_In Tereska, Pokémon League Gyms are set up a bit differently than in other regions. Here, you won't find Gym Leaders of type-oriented gyms, but Gym Leaders that each specialize in a different battle style. When defeated, each Leader will give you a mark that symbolizes their specific battling style. Some marks are a pendant of beauty, others are a badge of honor. Each mark, like their respective Gym Leaders, is different and unique, but each one will be a challenge to get. For the Coordinators, you'll find unique contests like you've never seen before. _

I wanted to keep reading, but the TaxiTrain had stopped, and the sign above the door that displayed each stop was flashing: **HOTEL VOUS AVEZ**.

I picked up my bag and followed Evan out of the train.

"Hotel Vous Avez? What kind of name is that?" I wondered aloud.

"Doesn't that translate to Hotel You Have from French?" Evan said, looking up at the pristine sign.

Hotel You Have was a towering skyscraper

"Yeah," I sighed rubbing my head. I strode forward pushed through the rotating glass doors, entering the lobby.

Evan hurried to catch up with me.

"Hello! Welcome to Hotel Vous Avez! I'm Shirley, how can I help you?" the smiling blond asked us as we approached the front desk.

Evan held out his trainer card. "I have a reservation on this card," he said.

Shirley took the card from him and swiped it on a pad. She handed the card back to him. "Thank you Evan. Your room number is 649, and it'll be on the seventh floor. Enjoy your stay!"

We turned and headed towards the elevators.

I remembered reading in the brochure that in Tereska, your Trainer Card functioned as basically everything. It was your credit card, your identification, and anything else that used a card. Even our room key for the hotel was Evan's Trainer Card.

When we got to our room, we unpacked our bags, and stretched out on the two beds. The mattresses were springy and comfortable, soft yet flexible. We watched a bit of the holographic TV, and then Evan called down to the front desk to register my Trainer Card as a room key also, while I looked through the brochure to see what attractions Celestia City had to offer.

"Oooh, Evan, there's a water-performing troupe in town! And it's only a few blocks away! Can we please go?!" I asked him eagerly. I probably sounded like a whining two-year-old, but I was anxious.

He put the phone back on its receiver and smiled at me. "Sure, that sounds like fun!"

I fist pumped and jumped off the bed. We put on our shoes, and then departed.


End file.
